The Inexpressible
by itslivinginallofus
Summary: Quinn/Rachel, Faberry. My first GLEE fic, so be nice-ish? I suck at summaries, but this follows our leading ladies as they becoming close via angsty circumstances. Rated M for adult situations, namely the mention of M/F rape and detailed F/F sex. Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hello, reader! Thanks for clicking on this -- it's my first GLEE fic, and I'm very excited (and nervous) to try my hand at my OTP for this show, Quinn and Rachel. Please review as you feel compelled, and I will try to update as soon as humanly possible! This fic is named with a nod to one of my favorite quotes of all time:**

_**"After silence, that which comes closest to expressing the inexpressible is music." **_

_**-Aldous Huxley**_

**DISCLAIMER: Sadly, I am not fortunate enough to own GLEE or any of its components. If I did, it would be even gayer than it is at present -- and let's face it, that's pretty gay!**

When Rachel Berry had woken that morning, she planned on having a sunny day as perfect as her impeccably-set hair and meticulously-matched outfit. She was confident that her interpretation of Christina Aguilera's "What a Girl Wants" for the mash-up challenge would impress her fellow GLEE-clubbers and Puck's promise to prove himself to her as an eligible male lead would only reinforce her desirability to any and all non-believers. She smiled into the tip of her favorite lip gloss before she was startled by the seemingly instantaneous appearance of Quinn Fabray in the reflection of her locker door mirror -- well, more accurately at the appearance of the 'WMHS' logo on the cheerleading uniforms in her locker door mirror, which technically could have been one of a few people, but she knew Quinn's build well enough to know that it had to be her.

Rachel turned around to face the taller girl. "Oh, hey, Quinn! You know, I wish we had time in class to hear everyone's mash-up ideas, but I really think -"

"Stay away from Puck." The order came abruptly, precise, and followed only by the sound of the blonde's heels clicking down the hall, away from Rachel and toward the bathroom.

And that was the last straw for Rachel.

She had been made fun of, sure. Whispered about, laughed at, defamed on bathroom and locker room walls, but in all of that, she had not once let herself be pushed around. Her dads had always told her that jealousy creates talk and fear creates rumors, but that no one could be pushed around without surrender, and Rachel Berry had no time to surrender. She was, after all, on her way to stardom, and that was a road that held no prisoners.

The brunette made a purposeful descent down the hall, her hair bouncing with every step as she pushed open the bathroom door to find Quinn right where she hoped she would be, standing at the sink washing up.

"Why should you have any say in what I do with Noah? What's your interest in him?"

As expected, Quinn carried on as if Rachel wasn't even there, looking straight ahead and leaving the shorter girl to make eye contact with her in the mirror instead. "Can't you ever stop with the obnoxious questions and take an order?"

"Can't _you _ever legitimately answer a question instead of retorting with a mean girl cliché?" Rachel countered.

Speaking more quickly than usual, Quinn proceeded to apply unnecessary amounts of soap to her hands before rubbing them together under the hot water. "You want an answer? You and Puck will never work out! He's no good for you, so just back off!"

As an epiphany washed over Rachel, she angled herself against the sink counter as much as possible, trying to demand eye contact that Quinn refused to grant. "Oh, I get it; you can't stand to see anyone other than yourself have a good thing going, so you're trying to destroy this for me! Well, it's not going to work! I think you need to start minding your own business, which should be centered more on Finn than Noah since you are carrying Finn's baby, after all."

And then she saw it; the truth unmistakably spelled out in Quinn's eyes. She always wondered why people always found the impenetrable queen bee hard to decipher, because she could read her like music, effortlessly.

"No," Rachel protested, "Finn's not the father... no, there's no way."

The cheerleader let out a spiteful laugh. "You don't have to believe it now, but when the baby mysteriously comes out tanned with light eyes and a Jewish nose, don't say you were the last to know."

"So, cheating on Finn with his best friend wasn't atrocious enough? You're just going to let him go on thinking that this baby is his as he plunges further into an early heart attack and male-patterned balding? How could you?" the songstress interrogated.

"You don't know a damn thing about any of this, Rachel," Quinn spat coldly, finally turning to face her. "Or about me."

Untainted by the other girl's challenge, Rachel took a daring step toward her. "I know enough to know that I was wrong to give you the benefit of a doubt -- to think that you were more than just some heartless cheerleader!"

Once again, Rachel saw the truth in the blonde's hazel orbs as they urgently tried to mask a look of genuine hurt as she weaved around Rachel and made her way toward the exit. "Good for you, now leave me alone."

Instead of obliging Quinn's request, Rachel stood in front of the door, reaching back over her shoulder to flick the lock shut despite the frantic pulling of female students desperate for entry on the other side.

"One of us is going to tell Finn the truth, and I have a feeling you would rather it be you than me," Rachel's intense brown eyes made Quinn well aware that she was not only speaking a threat, but a promise.

"You can't do that!"

"Can't I?"

Quinn's heart hit the floor of her stomach like an anchor cast away into the ocean, apologizing to God in her mind for anything she had done to deserve this. "I can't believe you! You're sitting here threatening to ruin my entire life, and you don't even know the whole story!"

It was Rachel's turn to laugh spitefully as she could hardly believe her ears. "Well, what part of the story could possibly be missing that could make this any better? Any less of a betrayal to Finn and everyone else that you've been fooling this whole time?"

If Quinn had leaned in a millimeter closer, her rapidly blinking eyelashes would have been tickling Rachel's nose. Her eyes clouded and voice gritty, she for the first time instilled a fear and confusion in Rachel that nearly stopped the performer's heart. "I didn't want to do it with Puck! He made me. He..." her voice strayed down a distant path, unable to complete the sentence, and Rachel's conducive expression indicated that she didn't have to; she more than understood.

"Now, let me go," Quinn quietly demanded, reaching above Rachel's left shoulder to unlock the door and push past the accumulation of girls.

While almost knocked to the floor by the influx, nothing could further dethrone Rachel than what she had just discovered. She stood paralyzed where she was, her eyes scanning the room in the attempt to re-focus on anything that felt remotely safe or normal, but to no avail.

Maybe today wouldn't be so sunny after all.

**Thoughts? Chapter 2 is well on the way -- please review as you feel compelled! **


	2. Chapter 2

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm so thrilled by the positive reception of this story so far! Thank you so much to everyone who has read (and especially those of you who took the time to review!) so far, and I hope this chapter was worth the wait (although some of you who have read my other pieces a.k.a. switchfoot13, Musical'n'MagicFreak, evilmojojojo, etc. know that this is pretty quick for me, LOL)! More will be posted soon(ish)!**

**DISCLAIMER: Sadly, I own nothing pertaining to GLEE or any of its components. If I did, it'd be gayer than it already is, and let's face it -- that's pretty gay!**

"Quinn!" Rachel's voice sounded down the hallway, flying on the tips of her toes after Quinn, who was shamelessly lapping her, even with child.

Arms folded in an X tightly across her chest, the withdrawn blonde couldn't believe she had just said those words out loud. She had vowed to keep the ugly truth about what had happened confined within the chambers of her heart without as much as a second thought, but there was something about Rachel that got under her skin, that permeated her resolve like no one else. She barely had the time to consider what she had disclosed when she was startled by her wrist being yanked away from her body.

"What the -"

"You're going to have to hate me for this later, because right now we need to talk," spoke the voice of the very subject of her thoughts. Rachel looked around and used their convenient proximity to the choir room to her advantage as she dragged a reluctant Quinn in behind her.

Before a word could be spoken, both pairs of eyes fell on Will, who was sitting at the piano, penning notes as he was plunking them out.

"Hey again, Girls," Will said before eyeing the wall clock. "Shouldn't you be at lunch?"

"Mr. Schuester, if you would excuse us. Quinn and I need to speak in private."

"Um, I'm sorry, Rachel, I'm working on a new piece for sectionals, and... not to sound childish, but I was here first."

But there was no way the starlet would back down now. "We need an environment free of the bustle and barbarism of the cafeteria, and this is the only practical place to do it. So, unless you'd like to sit here and engage with us in a rousing conversation about the anatomical changes that Quinn is sure to endure in the next several months of her pregnancy, including the enlargement of her breasts and the halting of her menstrual cycle, I'd find a new spot."

Too uncomfortable to realize he had totally just been played, Will faltered for his sheet music before packing it up. "I'll be in the teacher's lounge if... anyone needs me."

As she watched Mr. Schue walk to the door, it occurred to Rachel that now she and Quinn would actually be alone. While that was all she wanted a few moments ago, suddenly words were failing to find her, especially after she had said such hurtful and wrong things to the other girl. Ordinarily, the ingénue would be willing to go to the mat for a stance of hers or to defend even an incorrect judgment she had made, but not now; now she just wished she could go back.

Rachel stood near the piano, Quinn near the door. The second hand on the clock had easily signified the passing of a minute that they spent in silence before Quinn simply couldn't take it anymore.

"Look, spare me the kum-bay-ya intervention and just forget I said anything. You don't need to pretend to like me all of a sudden just because you feel sorry for me," the blonde surrendered, hand in the air and headed for the door.

"You can't ignore this and I can't, either. Puck raped you!" Rachel shouted after her.

Quinn turned around, and it was clear that she had stumbled to the end of her wits, tears streaming from her eyes as fast as the hormones were streaming through her changing body. "And what you do you want me to do about that, huh?! Do you want me to wear it like a badge? Let everyone feel sorry for the poor, dumb slut who got knocked up by her boyfriend's best friend? Should I be feeling proud that I trusted him enough to not wonder why the drink he gave me tasted weird? Can you answer any of those questions for me?"

Rachel couldn't. The only thing she _could _do was grit her teeth so hard that air had trouble escaping in a futile attempt not to cry, to be strong.

But Quinn's carrying on wasn't helping her attempts. "Even when I woke up, barely clothed and... sore and disoriented with him just laying there next to me, I thought at first, 'No... this didn't happen, Puck wouldn't do that.' Well, all it took was one look at his smug face to know that he did, and I just left. I didn't yell, I didn't push him, I didn't say anything. And now he thinks he can talk to me and carry on like nothing happened, and it just - I - I just don't know how much longer I can do this!"

The doll-like beauty's emotions had hit her like a tidal wave, overcoming her quickly and relentlessly as she struggled just to stay on her feet. Rachel noticed the quiver in her legs and rushed over to the other side of the piano, reluctantly leading her to sit down on the bench. Relieved to see that Quinn neglected to push her away, the brunette sat down at a safe distance next to her. All the movement dislodged a silent tear from her brown eyes, but she quickly wiped it away before Quinn, whose face was being covered by her hands, could see it.

Rachel inhaled sharply and released it slowly, trying to remove any and all judgment from her voice and replace it instead with compassion and concern. "Why -- why don't you tell someone? Report him?"

"Oh, please, like it's that easy," Quinn replied spitefully, setting in a motion a fast-paced back-and-forth battle of gratified cynicism versus naive hope.

"Quinn, this is serious! You can't let him get away with this!"

"_I_ can't let him get away with this? Why do _I _have to be responsible for any of this?"

"Because something tells me that he's not going to surrender himself to the police!"

"Yeah, well that's probably the only way anything would be done about it anyway. My dad used to be a lawyer, and believe me, the justice system is far from perfect. There are a lot of impossible hoops to jump through just to have your case fall through or for a guilty person to walk away with a slap on the wrist," Quinn stated matter-of-factly, rounding out the argument for cynicism.

Rachel's brown eyes were wide and misty as they locked with Quinn's, determined to give hope one last shot. "But don't you think it's worth a try?"

"God, you just don't understand, do you?"

"No, and I want you to make me understand!"

Quinn closed her eyes and tried to release any and all frustration in the form of a loud sigh. She couldn't ignore the genuine earnestness ingrained in the other girl's features, and even in her seemingly never ending pain, Rachel's concern made her feel less alone. "Maybe I want the little bit of my life that I have left to stay the way that it is after all of this! Do you think that's going to happen if I cause some high-profile scandal with one of the most popular guys at school. It would be chaos, and that's if anyone even believed me."

The bewildered brunette had a feeling her next question would make her sound further naive, but even if so, it was one she had to ask. "Why would anyone not believe you?"

"It happens all the time, Rachel. People don't want to accept the truth, the hurt that comes with knowing that someone you once liked or thought was decent could... do something so terrible to someone, and so they look for a loophole, a way to convince themselves that it's not true. Someone to blame who's not the one person at fault, and that usually ends up being the victim," the cheerleader lamented.

This time, Rachel didn't have the presence of mind to hide the tears that fell freely from her eyes, and she didn't care enough to regret it. She paused to find her voice before saying, "Well, for what it's worth, I believe you. Wholeheartedly."

"I know you do," Quinn spoke softly, daring to look into Rachel's shimmering eyes before a pulling in her stomach compelled her to look away. "Besides, whether he believed me or not, it would devastate Finn, destroy him, even. And I couldn't do that. I don't know if he'd even understand."

Rachel sympathized. "He is a bit..."

"...dumber than a box of hair?"

"Yes. And you're, surprisingly, I'll admit, very intelligent. You're articulate and thoughtful and I can tell that you're academically-minded regardless of the fact that you sometimes dumb yourself down as to not stand out too much. So, I guess I'm a little confused; I'd be lying to say that I ever really thought you and Finn to be right for each other."

"Things with Finn are -- easy and convenient and..."

"Normal and acceptable, I get it."

A pang of hurt that disguised itself as anger appeared on the blonde's face. "That's not fair, Rachel, you don't know what it's like!"

"You're right, I _don't _know what it's like, because I've never been normal or popular or anything like that. The majority of McKinley think that I'm... a weird, irritating, loser with unrealistic and lame dreams, and if I tried, I could be... pretty and interesting and blend in, but it wouldn't be honest. It wouldn't be who I am, and I can't do that. I won't."

For the first time in their exchange, Quinn was quiet, having no choice but to be rendered speechless by the truth in Rachel's words. If nothing else but to save face, she conjured up something to respond with.

"To your credit, it does take a brave soul to stand up to a slushee-flinging jock," Quinn said, followed by a small, yet sufficient giggle.

A feeling of relief likewise startled a quiet laugh out of Rachel. "I guess so," she agreed coyly, "Although pretending that I don't mind as the frozen sugar crystallizes to the roots of my hair isn't exactly brave."

The taller girl absent-mindedly twisted a lock of the brunette's hair painlessly between her fingers. "Well, for the record -- you've always been pretty."

"What?" Rachel asked, a sudden heat consuming her cheeks.

Suddenly, Quinn was fumbling over her words. She was learning to blame just about anything uncharacteristic on her pregnancy hormones, but it often left her speechless and without much control. "Well, before you said that if you tried you could be pretty, but... you don't need to try. You've always been pretty. I mean, why else would I have... been threatened by you?"

A full-toothed smile was pushing full force at the corners of Rachel's mouth as she looked down at her fidgeting hands. "Well, while we're clearing things up, I'm not pretending to like you, Quinn. I've always known that there's something deeper there that you don't show anybody."

Unlike her theatrical counterpart, Quinn wore a softer, more humbled expression. She felt deep down that what Rachel had just said should have terrified her as it threatened the guard she set so firmly in place, but for some reason it didn't.

In the other girl's silence, Rachel nervously continued, refusing to get her hopes up too quickly. "I mean... if you don't want to talk to me when we're walking down the hall or in the locker room or even during Glee rehearsals, that's okay, I mean, we can pretend like nothing ever happened -"

"I'm not going to -"

" - but just so you know, I'll still be here for you if you need to talk. In private. Without anyone having to know..."

"Okay, no wonder you don't have any friends, no one can get a word in!" Quinn interrupted abruptly, stopping Rachel into a wide-eyed, closed-mouth hush. Before she could panic, Quinn's laugh made another cameo to signify that she was only kidding.

"I'm sorry, I've been told I can be overwhelming and slightly intense," Rachel remarked with a sheepish smile.

"It's okay, I didn't notice," Quinn replied in a light-hearted sarcasm that Rachel didn't understand. "Do you want to go see what's for lunch while there's still time?"

"Sure," Rachel replied a little too quickly, standing from the piano bench and smiling the same delighted smile.

Before Quinn could allow herself to be charmed by Rachel's genuine happiness or the chivalry she expressed by helping her up and moving the piano bench out of her way, she raised an eyebrow and put her arm to the side to stop the shorter girl in her tracks.

"But just so you know, if someone throws a slushee at me, I'm totally throwing you in the way."

This time Rachel did understand Quinn's -- half -- sarcasm, and smiled. "I figured as much."


	3. Chapter 3

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Another sincere thank you for all the incredibly gracious reviews up to this point, and even more so for being patient with me! I'm amidst a move and a new job and admittedly, my mind is a bit all over the place. I hope you enjoy this next chapter! Please read and review as you feel compelled!**

**DISCLAIMER: Sadly, I do not own anything pertaining to GLEE. If I did, Puck would be pretty justified in calling it "homo explosion!" **

The discomfort in attempting to make small talk with someone they each never had before dissipated quickly, to both Quinn and Rachel's surprise. Granted, their conversation wasn't much of substance; mostly about Glee club and music and points of commonality that didn't involve the pregnancy or Puck or anything otherwise private. There was an unspoken understanding, however, that came with knowing that they _could _talk about serious, confidential topics with one another, even though neither girl could have ever anticipated it.

They were both guarded in different ways and for different reasons, and yet somehow each girl respectively brought something different to the table that the other didn't have, and that they both needed.

Although she wasn't sure she should risk upsetting the delicate balance of things, Rachel felt the need to comment. "Why hasn't this happened earlier? The whole -- us talking without insulting each other thing?"

Quinn looked down, twisting a napkin that remained on her lunch tray between her fingers. She knew an honest question deserved an honest answer, no matter how terrible it seemed in retrospect. "Differences in social status, I guess. When you're at the top, it's like you're so busy focusing on not falling that you don't really think about anyone else," she replied, looking back up once she had torn the napkin beyond recognition. "But that's all over now anyway."

"Well, I'm glad," Rachel interjected quickly, pausing to realize how it sounded aloud. "I mean, I'm glad that we're talking. All that drama and stress proves to merely be a distraction and simply isn't worth it, even though I know that falling from grace has been hard for you and Finn."

A soft burst of air that was neither a scoff or a laugh left Quinn's lips. "Well, speaking of the other reason you and I haven't always gotten along... a blind person could see that you and Finn have always had this -- chemistry -- especially onstage, and it's always bothered me."

A stinging sensation spread through Rachel's chest, scared that she may have caused tension that they had finally just permeated after so long of disliking one another. She took a deep breath before speaking the truth she had kept silent and would likely not confess to anyone else. "Okay, I'll admit it; I did perhaps interact with and pursue Finn in ways that could be seen as inappropriate. But to be honest, I kind of looked at him as my only chance."

The blonde raised an eyebrow, curious. "Chance at what?"

"Chance at a lot of things. He's the only guy at this school with anything remotely resembling leading male potential, and in order for the Glee club to go places, that's crucial. And to be honest, it was nice being treated for the first time like I wasn't a complete outcast. Even the thought of someone liking me more than a friend gave me hope and made me feel good, even if it's not the person I would want it to be. I thought, 'Wow, everyone knows Finn Hudson.' Maybe if everyone could see that someone as popular as Finn saw something in me, they might think more of me." Her cheeks reddened. "It's selfish and embarrassing, I know, but it's the truth. And I promise I'll back off from now on."

Quinn's hazel eyes softened with a compassion and respect that she felt for the other girl now more than ever. "Well, as long as we're being honest... it's never been so much about losing Finn as it has been about losing my reputation, which sounds so pathetic and unfair now that I say it out loud. I guess being held to a certain standard, I've kind of learned to shut people out, because I know -- I mean, I've seen firsthand -- that in order to get what you want, someone usually gets hurt in the process."

The brunette was surprised, yet thankful for, the former cheerleader's candor. "When you think about it, you and I are really no different in this: we both got so worked up over someone not because of how we felt, but how we felt it would make others perceive us. I think the important thing is that we can admit it and hopefully move forward. I can't say I understand what it's like to be at the top, but I also can't say that I wouldn't have acted exactly as you have if I were in your shoes."

Quinn smiled softly, yet appreciatively that Rachel was so willing to give her the benefit of a doubt. She took another sip of her drink and had to will herself from allowing it to rise in her throat as she saw Puck headed toward their table out of the corner of her eye.

The mohawked jock towered over the two from his standing position, feeling oddly threatened by the combination of the girls he had used and abused sitting together. "So, what brings Drag Queen and Bimbo Barbie together? Isn't that what you guys call each other behind your backs?" he joked.

The terror that consumed Quinn had paralyzed her completely, and Rachel saw it clear as an Ohio spring day. She knew she had to take a stand for the both of them. "We've grown up; something you might consider trying."

Any hint of a smile disappeared from Puck's face and an angry expression took its place. "What? Where is this coming from?"

Quinn's wide and desperate eyes pierced Rachel's, silently begging her not to say anything she had revealed. Rachel fashioned a quick and generic excuse. "You may be one person in Glee, but you haven't let it change the way you act like a Neanderthal with your friends and football buddies, which goes to show that you really haven't changed where it counts, and I can't have any part of that."

Puck smiled condescendingly, not convinced that Quinn hadn't told Rachel _something _and furthermore refusing to take such an ego bruise without one final jab. "You know what? You're just as bad as her," he said to Rachel of Quinn. "Worse, actually. You show up to celibacy club and go on and on about how girls want sex just as bad as guys and then pull this? Go ahead and wonder one more time why you're gonna die a virgin."

Despite her valiant attempts at standing up to him, something Puck said pinched a nerve within Rachel that automatically and involuntarily caused tears to fall from her eyes, and without saying a word, she was up and out of the cafeteria before most people could even notice she was gone.

Quinn, of course, was one of the few who did notice, and without looking up, she attempted to maneuver around Puck and make her way after the crying girl. Before she could escape unscathed, however, he tightly grabbed her arm and demanded eye contact.

"You didn't go running your mouth to her, did you?" he asked.

The quavering girl somehow found a strength within her that until today she had not been able to muster. "Take your hand off of me. Now," she demanded.

Whether it was the fact that everyone could see them or the sternness in Quinn's tone, Puck let go and watched anxiously until she was out of sight, hot on the other girl's trail.

Using a few resources of her own, Quinn caught up to Rachel and was met with no resistance when she hooked her by her arm and led her into the girls' locker room, which she knew was always empty at this time of day. Her effort to lead Rachel to one of the benches was thwarted, however, when the dissolved-in-tears Rachel pressed her back to a locker and sunk down to the floor, covering her face with her hands.

Unsure if she could safely stoop down to ground level, Quinn sat on the bench, leaning forward and facing Rachel. "Look, don't listen to Puck, he's an idiot and a jerk, we both know that."

The singer inhaled sharply, sinking her teeth into her bottom lip hard to try and prevent it from trembling. "This whole thing is my fault."

Quinn's brow furrowed; Rachel had lost her. "What do you mean?"

"I show up to celibacy club and give this whole speech slamming abstinence and talking about how much girls want sex, and then..." Rachel stopped to double count in her head, "what, within that same week, Puck makes a pass at you and then... I didn't ever think he was going to use it against anyone, least of all you."

Overwhelmed by Rachel's tragically misguided sense of reasoning, Quinn leaned forward and took the other girl's wrists in her hands, forcing them away from her face and prompting her to lift her head and look at her. "Rachel, listen to me -- this is nobody's fault but Puck's," Quinn punctuated firmly in a statement she hadn't even been able to admit to herself yet. "Not mine, not yours, not... society's or any of that. He would have done what he did whether you had ever made that comment or not. You don't just become capable of hurting someone overnight, and if it's going to make you feel better for me to report it, then I will."

Still not quite able to pull herself together, Rachel aimed her watery eyes at Quinn's as they darted back and forth. "All I want is for you to be okay."

Without warning, the shorter girl sprung up from her sitting position on the floor and wrapped her arms around Quinn in a hug, clutching her in a tight desperation. Frozen for a moment, the blonde shakily placed a reassuring hand on Rachel's back, overcome by the surge of genuine emotion and compassion being projected her way from the last person she expected.

"I will be," she whispered into dark hair. "I promise."

A few moments passed with no further reply from Rachel, and Quinn, who was so used to a world where pain was pushed aside and disguised with sugar-coated lies and distractions, realized that this moment was beyond words as she continued to hold the often misunderstood girl who she could tell didn't get this kind of attention enough. Just as she was about to wonder what was happening to her on the inside, a voice pierced the silence of the locker room in resounding reverberation:

"And what, may I ask, seems to be going on here, Quinn Fabray?"

Quinn released Rachel from her grip and closed her eyes in desolation; she knew that voice anywhere.


	4. Chapter 4

**DISCLAIMER: Sadly, I own nothing pertaining to GLEE. If I did, tonight wouldn't be the fall season finale! :(**

Quinn sat forward, leaning over Rachel in a futile attempt to keep her out of sight. "Coach Sylvester, I was just... leaving," she sputtered, standing from the bench and trying to wordlessly usher the shorter girl away from Sue and toward the door.

"That doesn't exactly explain whatever freakish blending of the classes appears to be happening before my eyes; although, now that you've opted for procreation rather than any chance at a future, I guess you really are no better than that disproportionate misfit that you're trying to hide."

Unlike Quinn, Rachel certainly wasn't intimidated in the slightest by Sue Sylvester, although in all fairness, she wasn't nearly as much of a target. She stood up with an audible click in her heels and brazenly faced the older woman.

"Ms. Sylvester, I won't let you get away with this! A person in your position talking to students the way you do is unpardonable, and I'll be sure to talk to Principal Figgins about it, and don't think I won't! It was me that got that tone deaf basket case Sandy Ryerson fired, and I won't --"

"Okay, I'm going to stop you right there," Sue stated calmly, holding up a hand to silence the rambling Gleek. "Now, what you just said, unless my hearing has suddenly fled me the way any chance of popularity has fled you Glee kids, sounds like a libelous, tactical vendetta that you sought against poor, sweet Sandy and now myself. If Figgins were to ever think that you coerced him into wrongly firing a long-standing faculty member over a personal grudge rather than anything significant, you could be looking at a lot of trouble."

Rachel's eyes shifted, momentarily nervous that Sue may have a point before deciding that she wasn't giving in just yet. "Yeah, well, so could you for everything you just said to Quinn and I!"

"Oh, but I won't play Principal Figgins _that _part of the tape; I'm pretty sure he'd be fairly disinterested in my run-of-the-mill bullying after hearing your mindless little ramble anyway," the track-suit clad monster countered, unveiling a tape recorder in her pocket.

"You carry a tape recorder with you?!" Rachel asked, half-stunned, half-disgusted.

"Sue Sylvester always carries a tape recorder. It's allowed me to have the upper hand in everything from bets to promises to being a defendant in court," Sue replied.

Just as Rachel inhaled to likely put her foot even further into her mouth, Quinn's hand on her forearm brought her to a shuddered stop.

"Rachel, it's fine, just let me handle this," the now-pallid girl insisted.

_No, it doesn't feel right leaving her here_, Rachel thought. "But -"

"Lunch is almost over, so just go to class. I'll be fine," Quinn lied, knowing it was in everyone's best interest that Rachel not be present for whatever was about to happen between she and Sue.

The brunette glanced up at her taller counterpart, dejectedly agreeing to her requests to leave, but not without getting one last word in. "Fine. And Coach Sylvester, you are an incredibly --" she began, eyeing the bulge in Sue's pocket that she now knew to be a tape recorder, " -- good teacher," she finished, her eyes and sticky sweet tone conveying her true thoughts.

Sue smiled. "Your sarcasm absolutely tickles me," she replied. "Now, out of my locker room."

Rachel made a defeated descent to the exit, glancing back to see Quinn's fists tightly balled at her sides, knuckles white from the pressure; they all know that once the she leaves, the gloves are off.

Like a knee-jerk reaction, Sue's mouth opens as soon as the locker room door clicks shut. "So, tell me, Q, because I'm a little confused: are you trying to see how big of a downward spiral you can take in as little time as possible? Because I, for one, thought you had reached your peak with the whole teen-pregnancy-no-chance-at-a-future thing, but you never cease to outdo yourself."

"Coach, _you _said it was a good idea to see what was going on in Glee club," Quinn stressed.

With an insulted scoff, Sue took an intimidating step closer to the teenager. "I told you to take the club down from the inside, not neck with the student ambassador of mouth breathers in my temple of victory and discipline. And correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't see Brittany or Santana playing bumper cars with the enemy in a sad and selfish attempt to explore bicuriosity."

Quinn, for one of the first times in her life, was rendered utterly dumbfounded. A painful few moments that felt like eternities sluggishly passed before she could even begin to form a sentence. "What exactly are you implying?"

Sue placed a condescending hand on Quinn's shoulder. "You're a bright girl. You know exactly what I'm implying. By the way, you're off the Cheerios, so turn in your uniform and get out of my air space."

Her knees nearly buckled; she had to suppress the gag reflex that nearly threatened to expel the contents of her lunch from her body. "What? Why? I'm not due until after the season is over!"

"Let me break it down for you, Quinn. Everyone knows that in addition to many other things, Sue Sylvester is a woman of God. In fact, I've been an ordained minister since 2001, officiating 5's of 10's of weddings across our beautiful state. Now, in exchange for my devotion to the church, many of my fellow people of the cloth as well as religious organizations have personally contributed to the Cheerios' success. Do you think they'll be so eager to write checks to a team that's supposed to keep teenagers active and away from temptation when the leader of the pack is a pregnant bisexual?'

"You don't know anything! I didn't -- and I'm not --"

"I'm not interested in your tears or your failed efforts to articulate yourself. My mind is made up; you're off the Cheerios." Sue's eyes fell to her watch. "You have 2 minutes to get to class, and no, I don't write hall passes."

_Pull yourself together. Show her you can do this, _Quinn scolded herself, swiping at her tear-streaked cheeks. "But, Coach -"

"1 minute, 45 seconds."

And that was it. There was no winning with Sue, and Quinn knew that, so she took the blurry-eyed walk of shame toward the door. Being off the Cheerios was a huge deal, life-changing even in the world of Quinn Fabray, the "it" girl. But more than that, there was a piercing pain that made her chest burn and throb all the way down through her midsection when she replayed in her head Coach Sylvester's comments about she and Rachel. Part of her shock and confusion at Sue's implications was genuine, but simultaneously, the notion resonated with her in some way. The dynamic chemistry between the popular and the nobody had always been there, even when they despised each other, and now for the first time, that anger and distance was giving way to a mutual understanding and depth that baffled the former cheerleader.

Right as she pushed past the heavy door back into the real world, Rachel was facing her, back against a locker, anxiously awaiting her.

"Quinn!" Rachel exclaimed, looking more relieved than ever to see her. "6th period's about to start, I was starting to worry. How did -- what happened?"

Those eyes. Rachel's deep brown eyes were so compassionate, so inviting. There was something in the other girl's expression, her nature, that Quinn trusted. So, her reaction, which was stirring inside her like an unstoppable whirlwind, surprised even her.

"Out of my way," she commanded sternly, pushing past the shorter girl. "I'm going to be late for class."

For Rachel, the blow hit hard, like a hard fall to the pavement or a swift kick in the stomach. She watched as the other girl scurried down the hall, her blonde ponytail bouncing involuntarily behind her, and knew as the tears stung her eyes that she wasn't going to let this go without a fight.

**Thank you so much for waiting patiently for this chapter. Reviews? Pretty please? :)**


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